West Seattle, Washington
14 Saturday
Every time the Fauntleroy Church Green Committee brings 
1 Green Planet to West Seattle for a “Recycle Roundup,” they head out with tons of stuff to be recycled rather than thrown away. So we’re giving you advance warning – another one is in the works for April 29th, 9 am-3 pm, and the church’s website already has posted the list of what you can drop off that day to be recycled – see it here. Last “Recycle Roundup” in October (WSB photo at left) set a Fauntleroy record – 14 tons of recycled items! (P.S. Yes, it’s free.)
(1st two photos by Patrick Sand for WSB)
ORIGINAL 9:52 PM REPORT: Rescue crews are converging on the Fauntleroy ferry dock after what was reported, according to scanner traffic, as a possible person in the water, reported to have fallen out of a dinghy. Our crew’s on the way; updates when we find out more.
10 PM UPDATE: The location where the person is believed to be in the water is actually off the south Lincoln Park beach, so that’s where rescuers are converging now.
They are still on the ferry dock too – with a fire-truck ladder extended (thanks to Maggie for pointing out it’s visible on the webcam):
10:10 PM UPDATE: Rescuers are headquartered by the first picnic shelter on the south stretch of Lincoln Park beach, where divers have been suiting up. Our crews on the scene say the Coast Guard has done a flyover and divers are about to go in.
(Photos from hereon out by Christopher Boffoli for WSB, except dinghy photo)
10:16 PM UPDATE: The ferry that was coming in has stopped a few hundred yards offshore.
(added) According to Southwest Precinct Lt. Alan Williams at the scene, here’s what they believe happened: Two men in two small vessels were going back out to a sailboat anchored offshore. One apparently fell out. He’s believed to be in his mid-20s.
10:35 PM UPDATE: Divers are still in the water – but no rescue yet. No word of an active sighting, either. Adding a photo showing the light from the SFD ladder in the background (substituted later, actual ladder photo).
10:46 PM UPDATE: Seattle Fire spokesperson Kyle Moore is on scene. He says there were actually three men taking supplies out to the sailboat, when it was discovered one was missing. (added – photo of one of the dinghies/rafts)
Divers are still searching but if they are not able to find the missing person soon, Moore says the operation will officially change to “recovery” mode.
10:49 PM UPDATE: Our crews at the beach say the victim is reported to have been found and is receiving CPR, has been taken to med unit. Moore says he’s been told the man is still alive and getting “cold water resuscitation.” He is reported to have been not very far offshore – 20 feet maybe.
10:56 PM UPDATE: Back here at HQ, we’re hearing scanner traffic about rescued man – believed to have been in the water an hour. CPR and “slow rewarming” under way as they prepare to rush him to Harborview Medical Center.
11:16 PM UPDATE: SFD’s Moore says the man was found about 25 yards offshore. Don’t know when we’ll find out if resuscitation efforts were successful, but of course we will update the story whenever there is info.
You may recall, this is the second time in five weeks that rescue divers have handled a call off West Seattle shores – last month, diver Tareq Saade died off Seacrest; his body was recovered about eight hours later.
ADDED 11:46 PM: Here is WSB contributor Christopher Boffoli‘s video of Moore’s media briefing right after the man was rescued:
6:38 AM UPDATE: Multiple citywide news orgs are reporting that the man didn’t make it. We don’t have independent confirmation so far, but the odds did seem very much against the possibility of surviving that much time underwater.
8:08 AM UPDATE: We also have spoken with Harborview Medical Center, where a spokesperson confirms the man died.
Meet the Fauntleroy Community Association‘s board, listed here, and photographed after the election at last night’s Food Fest and membership meeting at The Hall at Fauntleroy: From left, Gordon Wiehler, Bruce Butterfield, Kathleen Dellplain, Phil Sweetland, Marty Westerman, Vlad Oustimovitch, Vicki Schmitz Block, Mike Dey, Susan Lantz-Dey, David Haggerty, Gary Dawson. Ahead, photos of the Food Fest part of the evening – and a view of the labyrinth walk happening elsewhere in The Hall:Read More
(Photo courtesy Tuxedos and Tennis Shoes Catering and Events)
Another West Seattle event to greet spring – tonight, as mentioned earlier, it’s Solstice Park sunset viewing; the equinox itself is late tonight, and then for tomorrow night, this has just been announced:
Please join us at The Hall at Fauntleroy for our first quarterly community Labyrinth Walk 7 to 9 PM on Tuesday March 20th as we welcome the Spring (Vernal) Equinox. The Labyrinth, The Hall at Fauntleroy’s newest addition, is an extraordinary tool for transformation. Using the principles of sacred geometry, and defined as a singular pathway that leads to the center and then back out again, retracing the same path, a Labyrinth can open us to change in body, mind and spirit. It provides a sacred space; inviting walkers to set aside the cares of the world and enter into deep reflection (to discover something about ourselves). The destination is not important – this is about the journey (life).
If you are going to tomorrow night’s Fauntleroy Community Association membership event/Food Fest/board election, this is just a room or two away – but you don’t have to be from Fauntleroy to attend. The Hall is in the Fauntleroy Schoolhouse at 9131 California SW>
From last night’s Fauntleroy Community Association meeting, that’s Gordon Wiehler and Bruce Butterfield with a new sign for next week’s annual membership meeting, also known as the Fauntleroy Food Fest (6 pm March 20th at The Hall at Fauntleroy). But there’s another new face that FCA is presenting, and proud of:
The FCA website at fauntleroy.net has just relaunched with an all-new look. It’s always been an information-laden website, but somewhat plain; Irene Stewart is responsible for the re-do. Still a few tweaks ahead, but the new front page in particular won rave reviews.
Back to the Food Fest, and a Cove Park “Big Dig” recap – read on:Read More
The first signed, benched, and delivered RapidRide C Line stops in West Seattle are on both sides of California SW by the Fauntleroy Schoolhouse. Street and sidewalk work to facilitate the stops and stations for the new bus service, set to launch this fall, has been under way for 4 weeks, but these are the first signs we’ve seen. (The sign and bench are the basic amenities for a RapidRide stop; other stops/stations will have shelters and real-time bus schedule information.) The stop in our photo is on the east side of the street, just steps from Fauntleroy Church, where we spotted it after stopping for a photo of today’s Toxic-Free Kids’ Fair:
The fair, previewed here on Saturday, was a presentation of the church’s Green Committee, which has another of its always-busy Recycle Roundups coming up on April 29th – save your electronics and other items to bring by, 9 am-3 pm that day (the church website will eventually have a list of what they’ll take and what they won’t).
The Fauntleroy Church Green Committee – known far beyond Fauntleroy for popular events such as the twice-yearly Recycle Roundups (another one’s coming up in late April, by the way) – is inviting you to come learn tomorrow about how to live a more non-toxic life. Judy Pickens shares the photo and this preview:
Finding out what toxins may be in the care products used by children or in the toys they are given will be easy at Sunday’s Toxic-Free Kids Fair for the community hosted by Fauntleroy Church (9140 California SW; map). Members of the church’s green committee, as well as staff from the Washington Toxics Coalition, Lullaby Organics, and Earth Ministry will be on hand 11 AM – 1 PM in Fellowship Hall to help you determine toxicity (even by smartphone while you’re in the store!) and provide practical advice about the harm that certain toxins can do to growing bodies.
It’s free and all are welcome. (That’s Green Committee chair Liann Sundquist in the photo, getting ready for tomorrow’s event.)
(Photos by WSB editor Tracy Record)
A suddenly ironic sign marked the spot where that car flipped onto a Fauntleroy sidewalk a short time ago, right on the curve from Fauntleroy Way eastbound onto Wildwood (map). 2 people were hurt, minor injuries per the scanner, and we can confirm that the one victim who was placed on a gurney was sitting up as he was wheeled toward a private ambulance. Police were tracing the car’s trajectory:
Though that “no stops” sign survived unscathed, what you see in the lower right corner of that photo is another sign that did not:
That sign has long been a wayfinder pointing people to Fauntleroy UCC Church a few blocks east. No other cars were involved in the crash, but this one had far-ranging effects; police were up on the house’s lawn looking for debris.
ADDED 8:59 AM: Kevin McClintic sent a photo of the sign, taken last fall:
Fauntleroy-residing community volunteer Judy Pickens says that to her recollection, it’s been there since the mid-’90s, with the family who lives there having kindly agreed to “host” the sign.
ADDED EARLY SUNDAY: This is believed to be a case of DUI, according to the SPD time-delayed “incident response” map.
Before the Barton Pump Station expansion project takes over little Cove Park on the beach north of the Fauntleroy ferry dock (map) for about two years, the park’s plants need new homes – and you are invited to be part of the “adoption” effort. As Mardi Clements summarizes it, “”Free plants! Take them to a good home before they are bulldozed!” The plants fill border gardens along the pathway down to Cove Park’s tiny slice of beach. You dig ’em, you take ’em, 9 am-noon tomorrow (Saturday). Once the pump-station project is over, the park will be restored – the Fauntleroy Community Association has been working with the county for a long time to make sure that happens – with new art among other features (as reported in this story last September).
Story and photos by Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
Exactly two years after the Fauntleroy Community Service Agency completed the deal to buy it from Seattle Public Schools, the old schoolhouse at 9131 California SW is full of new life, and new opportunities – for example, want to host your next meeting in a conference room with a bonafide old-school (literally) blackboard?
Even before the multi-year effort that secured the Fauntleroy Schoolhouse’s longterm future as a community-owned facility, it was already home to an eclectic, if small, assortment of established businesses/organizations – Tuxedos and Tennis Shoes Catering, Fauntleroy Children’s Center, Seattle Civic Dance Theatre/Dance! West Seattle among them. Now they’ve been joined by others, with room still for more.
Education is obviously a natural fit; last year, looking for a new home, Lincoln Park Cooperative Preschool – which is an educational program for parents as well as preschoolers – landed at the schoolhouse.
But you might be surprised by what, and who, else you find if you tour the Fauntleroy Schoolhouse, as we did one day recently. Such as – an international game business!
From crime prevention to city grant applications, we have the toplines from last night’s Fauntleroy Community Association meeting, moved up a week since this month, the usual “second Tuesday” scheduling conflicts with Valentine’s Day. Details ahead:Read More
(Photos by WSB editor Tracy Record, added 8:34 am)
7:44 AM: Some residents in the Fauntlee Hills area woke up to water trouble this morning, according to several notes we have received. Greg reports, “Awoke to low water pressure and brown water coming from taps. Called city and they said there was a water emergency in the area and it would be at least 3 hours before water was restored.” Liz, who says she was given that same time frame, says her water service has been out since at least 3 am and that she was told the problem was a water-main break. We’re heading out to check.
8:26 AM: Just back from talking to the crew at the site of the break, which is on 39th SW just a bit north of SW Barton (which is wet for a few blocks downhill – luckily not quite cold enough to freeze). They have already fixed it and are flushing the lines. Just a cold-weather break, they told us, one of the 100-plus water-main breaks in the city every year (about 140, SPU reps told the recent meeting regarding Arbor Heights upgrades). This 12-inch main feeds homes for a 5-block area that zigzags around the spot where the pipe broke. Our photo shows the main and the silver clamp over the spot where it broke; the smaller green line on the right feeds the closest home, whose resident was out looking at the work and saying he’s glad it’s done because he’s overdue for his morning coffee.
7:32 PM: We apparently aren’t the only ones who heard a loud boom a few minutes ago here in the Upper Fauntleroy area – at least two others have mentioned it on the WSB Facebook page. We’re monitoring the scanner and police and fire crews have been sent to “look around” and check out one caller’s report, same general area, of a “flash” seen about that time.
7:51 PM: No indication so far that they’ve found anything, and the engine’s been canceled.
After two notes and one call in the past two days about those signs (and more like them), we had to go check them out. On Fauntleroy Way along a block-plus stretch south of the ferry dock, more than a dozen hand-lettered, orange-flagged signs are placed in planting strips on both sides of the street. Not only do they warn prospective criminals they’re being watched, they have a warning for solicitors, too:
We only found one person to ask about the signs; actually, he found us, driving up while our photographer was starting to take pictures, and asking what we were doing. He wouldn’t comment except to suggest that we check the “police reports” for something that happened recently. One incident is listed, a daytime burglary in the 9200 block of Fauntleroy Way on January 21st, with burglars not only ransacking the house and stealing multiple items of value, but also taking the victims’ car. The police report says someone saw a “white Dodge SUV pull into the driveway one house to the south of the victim house” that morning, with a passenger getting out and going “through the bushes into the yard of the victim’s house. After a short time the passenger got back into the vehicle and the vehicle slowly drove around the block as if they were looking at every house.” (The report did not indicate whether police were called at the time of that sighting.)
7:51 PM: A few minutes ago, we heard two loud blasts that couldn’t have been far from WSB HQ in Upper Fauntleroy/south Gatewood. Mindful that these are usually fireworks, we didn’t call police, but someone did, as the scanner indicates two units are responding to check the area, after a call from someone in the California/Thistle area.
8:01 PM: Via Facebook, someone nearby says it was fireworks, adding that she saw the “sparkly” aftermath. No indication via the scanner that police have found anything, but we’ve got someone out looking around the area too.
Tomorrow at Fauntleroy UCC Church, music director Bronwyn Edwards‘ new cantata “Wonder” debuts, and you are invited to come enjoy it, free. Here’s the story behind it, shared by Irene Stewart:
Wonder, a cantata celebrating the wonder of the season, is a new work by local performer, composer, and music director Bronwyn Edwards. Inspired by interviews with David Kratz, senior pastor at Fauntleroy Church, UCC where Edwards serves as music director, “Wonder” presents concepts and stories ranging from biblical times to modern day and includes personal reflections on the meaning and wonder of the season.
The work will be performed Sunday, Dec. 11, at 4 p.m. in the sanctuary at Fauntleroy Church (9140 California Ave SW). The program begins with a carol sing-along. A reception will follow in the church’s narthex. The concert is free and all are welcome to attend.
“The music is diverse in its mood and message,” says the composer.
Just out of the WSB inbox, from Rene, who says it happened near the Fauntleroy ferry dock:
After dark 6:20 tonight while outside my house with my dog I noted a middle-aged Caucasian woman prowling around my neighbor’s house with headlamp, and trying out their doors. I called across to her, and she said she was trying to deliver a package. I asked to whom, and she quoted a different house number, and quickly took off on foot south on 48th. There was no delivery van in sight, nor was this person wearing a uniform. I walked over to the house and found a package labeled with another address, and clearly tampered with. Called neighbors (away at the time), met with their family on site, contacted police, etc.
Be careful when you leave your home to put on lamp timers, switch up your routine, and have your Good Samaritan friends and neighbors stop by and/or keep an eye on the place. In this holiday season, please be wary of “false delivery” prowlers!
Another update from Dennis Hinton, one of the volunteers who’s currently watching for coho salmon during spawning season along Fauntleroy Creek, which started welcoming back spawners after a huge restoration project a decade ago:
Exciting day on the creek. I watched in the rain from noon til 2 pm.
Saw:
A happy couple spawning.
A jack of about two pounds that had a brief battle in the love nest, then squirted up the creek (photo of jack attached).
Remains of a big carcass high on the bank just outside the culvert.Two redds I’ve seen so far are now marked with little white ribbons.
Creek when I left had risen to .90—getting almost too high and cloudy to read the water.
Total fish count since 11/19/11 is eight.
As noted in previous coverage, last year the creek didn’t see a single spawner.
Alki Cooperative Preschool paid a visit to Fauntleroy Creek this afternoon, with volunteers including Judy Pickens and Dennis Hinton (that’s him in the hat) helping the kids and their chaperones get a peek at one of the five coho-salmon spawners that have now been seen at the creek in the past several days. We couldn’t get a clear enough look for a photo, but Dennis shared this one of a male and female spawning pair spotted earlier:
Last year, volunteer salmon-watchers didn’t see any spawners at all, so this year is already a success in comparison. 2009 saw 18, the year before that only 2; since the Fauntleroy Watershed Council started keeping track in 2000, the record remains 167 in 2001. (P.S. You can watch for the fish by going to the Fauntleroy Creek overlook at upper Fauntleroy Way and SW Director, directly across the street – and up the embankment – from the Fauntleroy ferry terminal entrance. It’s one of those “hidden gems”!)
From Sean:
Just saw 2 very healthy looking coyotes at Fauntleroy Place SW and 45th Ave SW just east of Lincoln Park [map]. Not too fearful of cars, those two. Saw them right at 950 pm.
We usually end coyote-sighting reports with this infolink that includes advice on what to do if you see one. And we point you to our coyote-sighting archive (newest-to-oldest, some with photos). Tonight, a bit of coyote trivia, too: In Louisiana, we just learned via Google, they have been designated “outlaw quadrupeds.”
Making up for blustery weather that canceled the event last year, late-afternoon sunshine graced this year’s edition of the Fauntleroy Creek gathering to call the salmon home. Above right, creek steward Judy Pickens confers with young salmon fans just before the start of the event, which she has organized for more than a decade. We counted at least 75 people of all ages at the overlook by the time the drumming, singing, and poetry began. Our video clip starts with Kevin Finney leading a round of the latter, call-and-response style, and continues with Bronwyn Edwards Cryer leading the singalong of “Habitat” (to the tune of the oldies classic “Lollipop”):
Will Fauntleroy Creek see coho spawners this year? Volunteers will start officially watching for them right after Halloween, and will continue for most of November. This past spring, Pickens and husband Phil Sweetland helped local schools with raising and releasing almost 2,000 coho fry; they plan to continue those efforts even though (as reported here last spring) the state has cut funding.
(WSB photo from 2008 calling-the-salmon-home event)
It is almost time for Fauntleroy Creek‘s volunteer salmon-watchers to start their annual lookout for coho spawners returning home. But first, it’s a tradition for people of all ages to gather to drum and sing, to call the salmon home. You are welcome to join – drums not required, but if you have one, or something makeshift, bring it! – at 5 pm tomorrow, at the Fauntleroy Creek overlook, across the street (and up the embankment) from the ferry terminal (here’s a map). Find more info – as well as details on how to volunteer for salmon-watching next month – at fauntleroy.net.
EDITOR’S NOTE: We have had this story in queue for publication since October 11th. We mention that because, less than 24 hours after we received it from Judy, a young man killed himself at Fauntleroy’s Cove Park; mourners gathered there for a tribute last weekend, and their loss is yet another reminder this topic must stop being taboo.
(A young walker in Seattle’s “Out of the Darkness” walk in September. Photo courtesy Danna McGill)
By Judy Pickens
Special to West Seattle Blog
One of the most untalked-about topics scheduled to be talked about during “Family Matters” week at Fauntleroy Church – which begins today – is suicide. “Understanding Suicide,” a workshop on prevention and coping, is scheduled for 5 PM Sunday.
It will be led by Danna McGill, who chairs the state chapter of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP). She knows about suicide as both organizer and survivor. Joining her will be two others with somewhat different perspectives on suicide loss.
When Danna’s best friend died by suicide a couple of years ago, she was stunned. If only she had had a little education, she reasoned, she would have seen it coming. She decided to participate in an AFSP “Out of the Darkness” fund-raising walk in Seattle and immediately knew she had found her tribe.
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